Vernetta Burger told the City Council committee that after she denied her estranged husband a visit, he broke down the door and beat her to a point where she feared for her life. When she later decided to move, the landlord held her to terms of her lease.

Statewide, the survey conducted for the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows someone would have to earn just under $25 an hour in a 40-hour a week job to afford that unit. And two-thirds of the million or so renters in the Garden State don’t meet that benchmark.